1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mounting assembly for mounting a member on a stationary base, particularly to a mounting assembly for mounting a long member, such as a guide rail for an automotive passive seat belt system which can automatically cause a seat belt to move between a fitted position, in which the occupant is restricted by means of a seat belt, and a release position, in which the occupant is released from the seat belt, when the occupant is getting in and out of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Background Art
In passive seat belt systems, the occupant is automatically restricted by means of the seat belt after the occupant sits down in the seat. In some passive seat belt systems, a guide rail is mounted on the roof side rail of the vehicle body. The guide rail has the front end located adjacent a front pillar and the rear end terminating adjacent a center pillar of the vehicle body. A sliding block can slidably engage the guide rail. The sliding block slides along the guide rail between the front and rear ends of the guide rail to carry one end of a seat belt. The other end of the seat belt is connected to a retractor which is fixedly secured to the side of a seat near the longitudinal center of the vehicle body, so that the seat belt may be wound onto the retractor. The sliding block is also secured to one end of an actuation wire and the other end of the actuation wire is drivingly accociate with a drive motor for driving the sliding block along the guide rail. Therefore, one end of the seat belt can move along the guide rail according to the movement of the sliding block which is driven by the drive motor via the actuation wire. The movement of the sliding block is controlled by means of a control circuit. In addition, a latch base is provided at the rear end of the guide rail. When the sliding block is moved from the front end of the guide rail, i.e. the release position, to the position of the latch base, i.e. the fitted position, an engaging portion, which is provided at the tip of the sliding block, is latched by means of the latch base. The movement of the sliding block is finished at this position, so that the occupant is restricted by means of the seat belt.
In the background of the present invention, a guide rail mounting bracket for mounting the guide rail on the vehicle body comprises a gripping portion having an essentially C-shaped cross section. The guide rail to be mounted on the vehicle body is clamped by the gripping portion. The gripping portion is formed by bending a resilient spring steel plate. In order to secure the mounting bracket to the vehicle body, the mounting bracket is provided with an essentially U-shaped mounting portion. The mounting portion is formed by making an essentially U-shaped split at essentially the center of the gripping portion and by bending a part of the gripping portion upwardly along the line connecting the both ends of the split. In addition, an opening is formed in the mounting portion. A bolt or the like is inserted into the opening, so that the mounting bracket is secured to the vehicle body. This kind of guide rail mounting member is described in the Japanese Patent Second Publication (Tokko) Showa 61-61263. In cases where the guide rail is mounted on the vehicle body by means of this mounting member, there are the following disadvantages. When a strong pull is given to the seat belt at positions other than the rear end of the guide rail where the sliding block is latched on the latch base, the gripping portion of the mounting member opens so that the guide rail is released from the bracket since the bracket is made of a resilient material. It is also noted that a trimming, which covers the guide rail, is caused to protrude.
Therefore, the mounting member has to be formed by a high-rigidity member so that the gripping portion can not open easily. however, when the mounting member is rigid, the clamping of the guide rail is complicated and it is required that the accuracy of the mounting member is as high as possible.